About Me

It is loose network of hobby photographers. It should not necessarily be limited to Saturdays. We can be extended holiday photography too. The objective of the network is to engage people in photography and make people aware of art, culture, architecture and environment of the Kathmandu Valley (for now).

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

KMC officials claim Rs 1.2 million embezzlement in clean up campaign

April 10, 2012 Posted By : parakhi

The clean up campaign launched by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai as part of the 'National Volunteer Campaign' has landed in controversy after Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) officials accused the KMC chief, Kedar Adhikari for approving the purchase of gloves, masks and other essential items for the campaign at higher price than the actual market price. KMC officials have claimed that Adhikari and his team may have embezzled Rs 1.2 million in the procurement of gloves and masks.

According to government officials, KMC needs to follow the tender process to approve contracts to vendors and it had provided the contract worth Rs 2 million to vendors who were not among the 22 authorized dealers of masks and gloves in the country. KMC had signed the purchase agreement with Kudan Singh of Jun Tara Suppliers and Prakash Pokharel. KMC chief Adhikari defended the agreement and informed the media that KMC could not follow the tender process outlined in the Public Procurement Act due to time constraint.

KMC had purchased 30,000 masks at the rate of Rs 17 and 30,000 pairs of gloves at Rs 30 on April 5. It had also printed 350,000 pieces of pamphlets at the rate of Re 1. Kathmandu Post has reported that the same gloves are available in the market for Rs 5 a pair and mask for Rs 3.20 each. KMC plans to spend Rs 20 million for the week long clean up campaign. The campaign ends tomorrow.